Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown said quarterback Bryce Young is silencing critics.
“He’s our guy,” Brown said. “We ride with 9 all the way through, and that’s one of those things that—people don’t want to admit how good he’s becoming because they [would] have to go back and admit how wrong they were, right? So, I mean, as we all know, people don’t like doing that.”
In 2024, Young was benched after just two weeks. The Panthers lost their season opener against the New Orleans Saints 47-10; Young went 13 of 30 passing for 161 yards and 2 interceptions, though he rushed for the Panthers’ lone touchdown. He fared even worse against the Los Angeles Chargers, going 18 of 26 for just 84 yards and a pick in the 26-3 loss. He was replaced by Andy Dalton. When Dalton was involved in a car accident and suffered a thumb injury, Young made his return against the Denver Broncos, going 24 of 37 for 224 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 picks.
Young’s performance proved to be something of a turning point, as the lowly Panthers won back-to-back games against the Saints and New York Giants, took the Kansas City Chiefs down to the wire, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to overtime, and dropped a one-score game to the Philadelphia Eagles. Young finished 4-8 as a starter, going 234 of 384 for 2,403 yards, 15 TDs, and 9 picks. He added 43 carries for 249 yards and 6 TDs.
“He just came in to work every single day and killed it,” Brown said. “He didn’t care. He went right back to doing what he does. And to him, it was about playing football. And I’m going to be honest, I know everybody’s got an opinion about him, but I would never want to be a quarterback in the NFL. It might be the worst job to have. It’s the highest-paying, but it is the worst job to have in the NFL. So, I salute Bryce every single day on just dealing with all the outside noise and then still being able to come in there and be efficient in the work.”
Young put up his best statistical season last year. He went 8-8 in 16 games and went 304 of 478 passing for 3,011 yards and 23 TDs with 11 picks. He rushed 54 times for 216 yards and 2 scores. The Panthers went 8-9 and won the NFC South since 2015 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2017. In the Wild Card round against the Los Angeles Rams, the Panthers kept it close, only down 17-14 at halftime. They tied the game midway through the third quarter and took a 24-20 lead in the beginning of the fourth. Young threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Jalen Coker to take a 31-27 lead with 2:39 left in the game, but the Rams scored the game-winning touchdown and won 34-31. Young finished that game 21 of 40 for 264 yards, a TD, and an interception; he added 3 carries for 24 yards and a rushing score.
Brown said Young is reserved and avoids the media, but is a good teammate and friend.
“He’s cool,” said Brown. “We all hang out and chill. He’s him, man. I mean, he doesn’t try to put on a show for the world. … Maybe he doesn’t want to get in front of the reporters and talk, being who he is, right? That’s 90 percent of guys in the NFL, but he is that, man. He’s a cool dude.”